HUDS Serves Haitian Food

Students will find a Haitian-themed dinner in lieu of usual entrees tonight as part of a fundraising effort by the Harvard administration for the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Menu items, some of which were suggested by Haiti-born HUDS employees, include soup joumou (beef and pumpkin soup), griots (spicy marinated fried pork), Haitian-style chicken, macaroni au gratin, rice and beans, fried plantains, and rice pudding. The menu will be available in all undergraduate dining halls.

The House Committees will raise money for Haiti in different ways in each dining hall. In Eliot, for example, HoCo members will sell Eliot patches for one dollar, according to Eliot HoCo Co-Chair Bryan W. Dunmire ’11.

The Haitian-themed dinner is the latest in a series of initiatives sponsored by Harvard administrators and students to provide assistance to Haiti, which was hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake three months ago today.

Among these events was another Haitian-themed dinner held at Harvard Hillel on Feb. 23, which was sponsored by Harvard Hillel, Harvard Haitian Alliance, Harvard Chabad House, and Harvard Caribbean Club. The University also underwrote the Harvard for Haiti concert on Feb. 12, which featured performances by student groups like the Kuumba Singers and Harvard Glee Club.

“I am glad to see that the College has not forgotten about Haiti and that HUDS has decided to prepare Haitian-inspired cuisine for the students,” said David D. Hutchinson ’12, former president of the Harvard Haitian Alliance. “It is also heartening to know that the House Committees will be doing fundraising as well.”

Dean of Student Life Suzy M. Nelson and HUDS Executive Director Ted A. Mayer said in a joint statement that for the earthquake’s three-month anniversary they want to “both acknowledge and support our local Haitian community, and extend our hand and our hopes for continued international support during the vital rebuilding period.”

—Staff writer Derrick Asiedu can be reached at dasiedu@fas.harvard.edu.